Some questions about GTY

[Tarpeian Rock]

Our cruise next month on Regatta is the first we've done through a TA, and it's been a frustrating experience for a couple used to being in control. Specifically, when booking ourselves we've always been given a specific cabin number when making the reservation. But we're shown on O's website as just GTY. Is this normal when booking through a TA?

 

Thinking of things such as luggage, when will we be given a cabin number? Or won't we learn this until we check in? In which case, we'll already have given up the unmarked (i.e., no cabin number) luggage. Or am I over-thinking all this?

 

I've seen so much on these boards about the value of a TA, but I guess this is lost on us. I'd have willingly given up hypothetical OBC's in exchange for knowing that we actually had a cabin in the category and part of the ship that we paid for. I'm imagining a "No soup for you!" moment at the pier, and it's not what we wanted hanging over us in the run-up to the cruise.

[jertom]

Your TA had nothing to do with the GTY, it is determined by the cruise line. However, I am surprised that you and your TA did not have a discussion about it before it was booked.

[LHT28]

Were there cabins available in the Cat you wanted when you booked?

 

We always book early so that is never a problem for us to get a cabin #

But we never book a GTY I like to KNOW ;)

If I cannot get a a cabin # I am not going

 

When you get to the port the ports will probably have a list with your cabin number on it

 

Are there cabins showing available in your Cat?

If ask to be assigned to one of them

 

Maybe you just need the RIGHT TA :D

 

I am sure you will be fine

 

Lyn

[alidor]

This has nothing to do with the TA - it is Oceania. A guarantee is just that - you will get a cabin in the category you purchased but chances are you could get upgraded as well.

 

Relax, you WILL get a cabin assignment. It really may not be until you are at the dock, but you will be on the ship.

[LHT28]

This has nothing to do with the TA -

 

do not be so sure

It has happened before with TA's that are used to booking main stream lines where they will book a GTY in hopes the client gets upgraded

 

Lyn

[Leejnd4]

You certainly have the option of selecting a specific cabin and asking for that one to be booked. That's exactly what we did -- I always research cabin location and variances within in the same category...for example, on the ship we're currently booked on, Riviera, some of the verandas are exceptionally large due to the location, for no additional cost...so I snagged one of those.

 

You can go on the Oceania site and see exactly what cabins are free in the category you want, and pick one. Your TA can book you in that specific cabin.

 

One thing, though...on most cruise lines, booking a GTY (Guarantee) means that you pay less than selecting your own cabin. It's a gamble - you might end up in a cabin in a less-than-optimal location. But you also pay less, and have a greater chance of getting bumped up if they happen to sell out in your category. However, I've since learned that on Oceania, sometimes the GTYs are the same price as selecting the cabin...which, to me, makes no sense as then what's the value in booking a GTY?

 

Anyway, personally I wouldn't work with a TA who didn't even discuss cabin options with me. But that's just me.

[jertom]

do not be so sure

It has happened before with TA's that are used to booking main stream lines where they will book a GTY in hopes the client gets upgraded

 

Lyn

 

Good point.

Never occurred to me that a TA might book a GTY without discussing with the client. But nothing surprises me lately....

Tom

[wripro]

If the TA did book a GTY without asking you first you should fire him. That's inexcusable.

[bitob]

Your cabin number should be on your invoice from your travel agent. How could anyone NOT know if their TA booked a GTY?

[bitob]

Our cruise next month on Regatta is the first we've done through a TA, and it's been a frustrating experience for a couple used to being in control. Specifically, when booking ourselves we've always been given a specific cabin number when making the reservation. But we're shown on O's website as just GTY. Is this normal when booking through a TA?

 

Thinking of things such as luggage, when will we be given a cabin number? Or won't we learn this until we check in? In which case, we'll already have given up the unmarked (i.e., no cabin number) luggage. Or am I over-thinking all this?

 

I've seen so much on these boards about the value of a TA, but I guess this is lost on us. I'd have willingly given up hypothetical OBC's in exchange for knowing that we actually had a cabin in the category and part of the ship that we paid for. I'm imagining a "No soup for you!" moment at the pier, and it's not what we wanted hanging over us in the run-up to the cruise.

 

 

You definitely have the wrong TA.

We are not permitted to recommend on these boards but when you are on the ship, ask some of your fellow passengers for the names of the TAs they use -- likely you will find the name of a high volume great Oceania TA -- that is who you want to use. You are giving up more than just some hypothetical OBC when using a great TA -- some have groups (which give you gratuities and extra amenities and sometimes access to cabins that other TAs do not have access to). A great TA can be first in line to get you an upsell or a downsell and maybe at a "negotiated" rate.

 

Again, you definitely have the wrong TA.

[RetiredFL]

You certainly have the option of selecting a specific cabin and asking for that one to be booked. That's exactly what we did -- I always research cabin location and variances within in the same category...for example, on the ship we're currently booked on, Riviera, some of the verandas are exceptionally large due to the location, for no additional cost...so I snagged one of those.

 

You can go on the Oceania site and see exactly what cabins are free in the category you want, and pick one. Your TA can book you in that specific cabin.

 

One thing, though...on most cruise lines, booking a GTY (Guarantee) means that you pay less than selecting your own cabin. It's a gamble - you might end up in a cabin in a less-than-optimal location. But you also pay less, and have a greater chance of getting bumped up if they happen to sell out in your category. However, I've since learned that on Oceania, sometimes the GTYs are the same price as selecting the cabin...which, to me, makes no sense as then what's the value in booking a GTY?

 

Anyway, personally I wouldn't work with a TA who didn't even discuss cabin options with me. But that's just me.

 

Not quite right at least on Oceania. A guarantee is the same price as a selected cabin.

If the cabin category you want is all booked, you can book a guarantee which means they expect some people to cancel and they you will get their cabin. Once they have their quota of Guarantees that they think they can accommodate, the category is then sold out and no more bookings will be accepted. If later on they find that more people in the category have cancelled than expected they may change it back to a guarantee or even available.

If less people cancel than expected, then they have a problem and will start offering incentives to people to upgrade, downgrade or go on a different cruise for a financial incentive.

They may offer you a better grade cabin either for a small upgrade fee or sometimes for free.

In any event you are guaranteed to be on the cruise in the category you selected or better. Except for the free upgrade you can turn down all other offers and you will have your cabin by boarding time either in your category or in a free uprade.

The baggage handlers and Oceania personnel where you drop off luggage will have lists of cabin numbers if you do not get it in advance. Unsually you will have the number at least a few day in advance. If you have a sign-in on the Oceania web site. and select the cruise under already booked you can check periodically to see if you have a number.

[Leejnd4]

Not quite right at least on Oceania. A guarantee is the same price as a selected cabin.

 

Yes, so I've learned. Btw, this really is quite different from other cruise lines...every other cruise line I've looked into booking, you can book a GTY for less money than choosing your own cabin. So it was a surprise to me to see that Oceania offered the option of selecting, or booking GTY, without giving some monetary incentive to book GTY. I still can't see the point of a cruiser choosing to book a GTY if they can select a specific cabin...what benefit does that get them? I can certainly see booking a GTY if there are no specific cabins to choose from - that gives you confidence you will at the very least be in that category, or better - but that's easy enough to determine on the Oceania site. Either there are specific cabins available, or there are not. So I still don't see the point of offering it as an option when cabins are available...and certainly not of a TA booking someone into a GTY without even giving them the option of choosing their cabin.

 

In any event you are guaranteed to be on the cruise in the category you selected or better. Except for the free upgrade you can turn down all other offers and you will have your cabin by boarding time either in your category or in a free uprade.

.

 

Hmm...don't you have the option of declining a free upgrade? I'm asking because I booked a specific cabin that has an extended balcony. I specifically told my TA NOT to allow free upgrades, as I wouldn't want to be bumped up to another Veranda cabin in a higher category, but without the bigger balcony. There are Veranda categories above mine are the exact same cabin, but on a different deck...I wouldn't want one of those, even though they are in a higher category and cost more. Even if the upgrade was free.

 

If they come back to me with an option to pay for an upgrade to a PH, I would certainly entertain that...but I would be QUITE unhappy if they just bumped me up in category to a cabin that is, IMO, inferior.

 

Or perhaps you just meant that the GTY cabins can't decline the free upgrade? Which would make sense.

 

I'm new to Oceania, and still trying to understand it's slightly different booking structures.

[LHT28]

I see the OP's cruise is completely waitlisted

It would depend on the status of the cabin inventory when booked

 

The way I understand it & I could be wrong

 

If there are cabins open in your Cat you pick one get a cabin number

If there are not any open then it goes to GTY they onlytake so many in the CAT on that list

next it will show Waitlisted only so many on that list (waiting to see if any cancel)

next it shows SOLD OUT (not much hope for for that Cat)

:D

 

Some TA's new to booking Oceania are not up on the working of Oceania

 

LEE

yes you can decline any upgrades/downgrades upsells/downsells unless you are a GTY then you may have to take what they offer or you are not on the ship ;)

[Paulchili]

Y

 

Hmm...don't you have the option of declining a free upgrade? I'm asking because I booked a specific cabin that has an extended balcony. I specifically told my TA NOT to allow free upgrades, as I wouldn't want to be bumped up to another Veranda cabin in a higher category, but without the bigger balcony.

 

Or perhaps you just meant that the GTY cabins can't decline the free upgrade? Which would make sense.

 

 

Yes - the "free upgrade" applies to GTY only. If you have an assigned cabin they will not move you without your permission.

Actually - I take that back. On our very first O cruise many years ago, we were moved at boarding from a balcony to PH. At first I objected as we specifically chose a front facing balcony for the Baltics and were given a port-side one; however, when it became clear that it was a PH, we gladly accepted.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Paulchili

[Leejnd4]

Yes - the "free upgrade" applies to GTY only. If you have an assigned cabin they will not move you without your permission.

Actually - I take that back. On our very first O cruise many years ago, we were moved at boarding from a balcony to PH. At first I objected as we specifically chose a front facing balcony for the Baltics and were given a port-side one; however, when it became clear that it was a PH, we gladly accepted.

 

Good to know! Thanks Paul. I spent a lot of time (and peppered this board with questions :D) to figure out exactly which cabin I wanted, so I'm relieved to know they can't boot me out. ;)

 

And hey, if they upgraded me to a PH, you can bet your bippy I'd jump at that! Especially after reading this morning's thread about course-by-course dining...I would love to have that as an option on some of our port-intensive days.

[RetiredFL]

Just to make you all jealous, on a past cruise we got a free upgrade from a regular veranda to a concierge veranda and then to a penthouse. Will never happen again but what a treat. Oceania also knew what they were doing as we now book penthouses, no going back!

 

And yes you can book a specific cabin if the category is open. A good TA should be able to tell you what cabins are available prior to booking. A guarantee is only if your category is "full".

As to declining a free upgrade from a booked cabin, a good TA keeps on top of the situation and knows if you want to move or not.

Also the web site for Oceania is always way behind the actual state of bookings so don't rely on it for how full the ship is.

[LHT28]

Just to make you all jealous, on a past cruise we got a free upgrade from a regular veranda to a concierge veranda and then to a penthouse. Will never happen again but what a treat. Oceania also knew what they were doing as we now book penthouses, no going back!

 

 

Better hope they do not upgrade you to an OC or OC then you are in trouble :D

[buggins0402]

Good to know! Thanks Paul. I spent a lot of time (and peppered this board with questions :D) to figure out exactly which cabin I wanted, so I'm relieved to know they can't boot me out. ;)

 

And hey, if they upgraded me to a PH, you can bet your bippy I'd jump at that! Especially after reading this morning's thread about course-by-course dining...I would love to have that as an option on some of our port-intensive days.

 

On our first cruise with O we booked an inside guarantee, we were assigned aa balcony, then offered an upgrade to PH at a reasonable fee (reasonable, given that it was a PH). However, this was a Baltic cruise last year after the Ukraine situation. Being a realist, I'm not holding my breath that that will ever happen again. But, you need a good TA to let you know when opportunities arise.

Edited March 9, 2015 by buggins0402

[Leejnd4]

On our first cruise with O we booked an inside guarantee, we were assigned aa balcony, then offered an upgrade to PH at a reasonable fee (reasonable, given that it was a PH). However, this was a Baltic cruise last year after the Ukraine situation. Being a realist, I'm not holding my breath that that will ever happen again. But, you need a good TA to let you know when opportunities arise.

 

I wish! If we got an upsell opportunity to a PH for an affordable cost, I'd be all over that. But I expect that's unlikely. We're in a B3 Veranda, and they'd have to bypass B2, B1 and four levels of Concierge Verandas before we'd get all the way up to a PH. And I wouldn't want any of the higher Verandas, even Concierge, as I really want that extended balcony.

 

I'd love to say that I'll get to try a PH next time...but in my case this is probably going to be my last cruise for a long time. DH and I are planning on retiring soon and sailing around the Pacific for a few years on our own sailboat, so I won't be on another commercial cruise for quite some time. This upcoming cruise is kind of my last luxury-vacation hurrah before we sail off into the sunset on our own. :)

 

Oh, editing to add: our TA is an Oceania expert, and has helped us quite a bit already. She knows how we feel about this extended-balcony cabin, and what it would take for us to jump at any upsell opportunities. Which gets back to the topic of this thread: I really do feel it's important to work with a TA who is well experienced with your cruise line of choice.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Leejnd4

[roothy123]

We always have our TA book a GTY (usually for an F or G), as we've had good luck in being offered an upsell (different cabin category for more money). The longest we've had to wait to get our stateroom number was up until 2 days before the cruise started.

 

At first I was skeptical about using a TA, wondering why that was necessary, given that I do a lot of research and feel I know a lot. However, then I found a good TA who offered us a discount, paid our gratuities, and gave us shipboard credit, in addition to offering to book us a GTY. Now we always use that TA. I agree with others that the TA should have told you about the GTY, but trust me, it's no big deal. You won't show up and be turned away due to lack of a stateroom!

 

The designation "GTY" comes on your invoice from Oceania, and is reflected online on the website. The reason I almost always book one is the possibility of getting an upgrade (on occasion) or (more often) an upsell. I'm not picky about location, and I actually enjoy the waiting game when it gets close to cruise time. There aren't many inside staterooms, so quite often we receive an upsell offer to a veranda stateroom. Normally it has come about a week to ten days pre-cruise. The best we ever did was get an upsell from a G to a concierge level veranda (forget what cost was, but it wasn't a lot) and the "worst" was an upgrade from a G to an F! Once we got an upgrade to an F and then got a paid upsell a few days before we left home to a veranda! I think a lot depends upon how full the ship is, but people with modest staterooms often do pretty well, I suspect!

 

If you're interested in accepting an upsell, tell your TA to contact you immediately (by cell phone or whatever works best) as soon as Oceania calls with an offer. (Oceania doesn't wait long to get responses.) I didn't read every line of every post, and don't know if you're on a small or larger ship, or if you have an inside cabin GTY or something else. However, be aware that on the small ships, the lowest ocean-view cabin is actually smaller than an inside cabin, and I think it has obstructed views. I've never been offered one of those, and I'm not sure I would take it offered. A peek outside would be nice, but perhaps not if it meant a smaller living space!

Edited March 10, 2015 by roothy123

[LHT28]

We always have our TA book a GTY (usually for an F or G), as we've had good luck in being offered an upsell (different cabin category for more money).

 

Sounds good but you do not need to book GTY to be in line for an upsell offer

If they want your cabin Cat an offer will come ;)

[RetiredFL]

Agree.

I don't think they sell a guarantee as long as actual cabins are available in the category requested.

The chances of an upgrade depend on the demand for cabins not how they were booked.

[StanandJim]

I don't think they sell a guarantee as long as actual cabins are available in the category requested.

 

Oh yes they do, the flexibility of that type of reservation works very well for the Cruise Line as well as for the Passenger.

 

It is true though that the offer of a Guarantee does not appear on the Cabin Inventory until cabin selection becomes limited.

 

Another one of those little things that you just have to know to ask about..... and another reason why using the services of an experienced Agent is invaluable ;)

[John Pryor]

I have been allocated a GTY cabin on the Insignia 180 day cruise after the initial cruise was cancelled because of the fire. After waiting 2.5 months I was then allocated a same level concierge cabin but it had a POV rating. There was no communication, it just appeared one day when we logged in.

These cabins are the most inferior of that class of cabin.

I understand the cruise is fully booked, but as time marches on our options are beginning to be reduced. So an upgrade, or a normal level cabin is not guaranteed. You are at their mercy.

Good luck with the upgrade.

[roothy123]

Just curious - did you originally book a particular cabin, and was it POV? We never book concierge level; never realized there were POV cabins in that category.